Wanted criminal in the US arrested by DCI in Mombasa

A criminal wanted by the United States was on Tuesday July 28 arrested by detectives from the DCI based at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa.

According to reports by the DCI, Mansur Mohammed Surur who is a Kenyan citizen is wanted for the illegal trade of rhino horns and elephant ivory.

“DCI Detectives based at Moi International Airport Mombasa have today arrested Mr Abubakar Mansur Mohammed Surur who had been flagged as a WANTED PERSON in the United States for Ivory related offenses after he landed from Yemen on board a chartered aircraft”, The DCI report stated

Further, the report indicated that Manur had been handed over to Interpol in Nairobi for questioning and further action.

According to a report by the Department of Justice in the US Attorney Office in New York in June 2019, Manur and Abdi Hussein Ahmed, also a Kenyan citizen, were charged in an indictment for participating in a conspiracy to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species, valued at more than $7 million (approximately Ksh754 million).

The conspiracy involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than approximately 100 elephants.

Other than illegal poaching, the two were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 10 kilograms of heroin.

“The alleged enterprise, responsible for the illegal slaughter of dozens of rhinos and more than 100 elephants, was as destructive to protected species as it was lucrative,” reads the report.

Surur’s suspected transactional criminal activities are said to have been in Uganda and surrounding countries.

The ivory rhino horns are said to have come from various African countries including Uganda, DR Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania.

They were then sold to buyers in United States and some countries in South-East Asia.

In terms of payment, they are alleged to have received and deposited payments from foreign customers that were sent in the form of international wire transfers, some which were sent through US financial institutions, and paid in cash.